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Lado Family Justice Fund

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BREAKING NEWS: 2 pm, March 5: Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III just held a press conference to announce that he has dropped the charge against Kosgar! We just talked with Sawsen and other family members and they are OVERJOYED. They want to thank everyone who helped in any way, including those of you who donated money. The family will very gratefully use this fund for residual legal fees and mental health treatment for Kosgar. He faces a tough road ahead, but he and his family can focus on healing now without the threat of incarceration hanging over his head. Thank you again!


NOTE: Please visit www.justiceforkosgar.org to get updates, sign the petition and see additional information!

Kosgar Lado is a 21-year-old Sudanese refugee who is trapped in the criminal justice system, "guilty" of nothing but being mentally ill. 

Kosgar and his family have been living a nightmare since last June, when he was taken in for a police interrogation after a murder in his Lansing (Mich.) neighborhood.

Confused and scared, Kosgar falsely confessed and was charged with murder.

When it became clear he was innocent, that charge was dropped. But the prosecutor is still trying to convict Kosgar of lying to police - based solely on the confession they extracted that day. 

Legal experts agree that the law does not apply to a case like Kosgar's and the charge should be dropped.

Instead, Kosgar has been ordered to be sent to a forensic facility for up to 15 months. He would be torn away from everything he knows: the security of his large family, ongoing outpatient treatment and a supportive community.  

Why? So that he can "be made competent" to stand trial - on a charge that never should have been filed in the first place.

The family is desperately looking at every legal option, but Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III is basically making Kosgar "buy his freedom" and pay $3,000 to $5,000 for an independent evaluation to show he was mentally ill at the time of the interrogation. It's outrageous that the prosecutor is putting Kosgar and his family through this ordeal instead of dropping the charges, but it's what's happening. Kosgar's family doesn't have that kind of money. They would never ask for this, so we are doing it on their behalf. 

Thank you for any amount you can give. Your support means the world to the Lado family. To learn more and sign a petition demanding the charge be dropped, please visit www.justiceforkosgar.org.

Organizer

Dawn Kettinger
Organizer
Lansing, MI

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